Stand Again
by Phantaum
Summary: Logan and his team were a Turf War phenomenon. The beat all of the odds and climbed the ranks like it was going out of style. They were destined to become the next big thing. However, it all came crumbling down on Logan after he made the biggest mistake of his life. Now, penniless and homeless, his only source of encouragement comes from his only friend. Will he Stand Again?
1. I:I - Fallen into the Trash

"THERE'S ONLY 15 SECONDS LEFT IN THE ROUND!" screamed the overzealous voice of Callie over the stadium's sound system. Fans were cheering loudly for my team and I. We rose up the leaderboards, and smashed records, defeating team after team with a seemingly innate Turf War ability. It was all leading to this moment, right here, and right now.

"LOGAN SPLATS ANOTHER, AND ANOTHER, AND ANOTHER!" She yelled again, "IT'S A TRIPLE SPLAT! THERE'S NO WAY HE CAN LOSE NOW!"

I stood there, admiring my handiwork of a Triple Splat, when suddenly an enemy inkling swam up behind me and tackled me onto the ground, forcing my weapon out of my hands and a distance away from me.

"Get off of me!" I yelled up the person. They looked down at me with the fury of one-thousand suns, and the determination of competitor.

They bent down and stared at me straight in the eyes, their piercing red orbs drilling into my soul. With a smile, they hissed out, "You're nothing."

Before I could comprehend what they said, they lifted their roller high above their head and brought it down upon me…

* * *

"AH!" I screamed, sitting up quickly from the cold ground I was laid upon. I put a hand to my beating heart, as my rich purple tentacles fell around my face to hang at the sides of my head. I breathed deeply in, then out trying to calm my racing heart, and racing mind.

" _That was in the past, it's over now,"_ I thought, trying to comfort myself. I looked to my right and saw my reflection in a broken mirror. My weary, emerald green eyes stared back at me, analyzing my every flaw. From my dirt covered cheeks, to my ripped clothing, only just barely hanging on to my lanky frame.

I took a deep breathe in and focused, trying to take my attention away from my appearance. I moved my attention onto remembering how I got here in the grungy alley.

Ya see, about a little over a year ago, I was part of an extremely successful Turf War team with some of my best friends. We were crushing the competition in many casual matches we played in, and dominated other teams in weekly skirmishes which we participated in. So, we decided to try out our luck in the annual Turf Tournament.

Imagine our surprise when we destroyed our first team, then the next, then the next. We were sensational, we were the next rising stars in the Turf War World of Inkopolis. Well, that was until the finals.

Nearly all nightmares have a basis in reality. Mine was no different. The team leader of the enemy team was good, but I felt confident in my abilities. It was that overconfidence that caused me to slip up in the end, and suffer a humiliating defeat at his hands.

I became a laughing stock afterwards, the butt end of every joke. I was even ridiculed by the pop phenomenon, the Squid Sisters live on television. All of this forced me down a spiral of loneliness and failure. My friends left me, I had no job, and I was evicted from my apartment. A disgrace to society as a whole. Since then, I've been a wandering soul, traveling around Inkopolis, with a lot of time to myself.

" _In, out. In, out. In in, out out. In- wait what?"_

"HEYA LOGAN!" yelled a girl from right next to my ear, causing me to jump into the air and causing me to tumble away from her. I flipped around to get a look who snuck up on me.

"Oh jeez, it's just you Arora," I said, putting a hand to my chest. Arora was a friend of mine I gained a little while after everything happened. The Bobble Hat sporting, cyan-haired girl found me curled up in an alleyway late one night, and recognized me. She woke me up and offered some food and water to me, which I accepted graciously.

In between gulps of food, I asked her why she was helping when no one else would, which she simply replied, "You needed it," or "Because". I shrugged it off and asked what I had to do to return the favor, on which she simply said "Be my friend." I accepted instantly, as I was in short supply of those at the time, and still am.

She crossed her arms over her arms over Gray College Sweater covered chest and huffed. "When are you ever going to find somewhere that isn't an alley to sleep, Logan?"

I looked down from her bright pink eyes, and at her Purple Sea Slugs. "I dunno… no one is willing to let me rent, since they are afraid I'll reduce their property values." I paused for a moment to think. "Oh, and I'm not very fresh."

She sighed out loud and walked over to me. "Oh come on, you're the freshest guy I know!" She offered a hand to help me off of the ground, which I accepted.

"I haven't had a change of clothes in somewhere close to a month Arora," I deadpanned, "I'm not fresh in any _sent_ of the word."

Arora groaned at my pun, causing me to chuckle. "Oh gosh, that was bad."

"Thank you," I said with a small bow.

Arora gave me a _look_ and rolled her eyes. "Your horrible sense of comedy aside, you need to actually go out and do things, Logan," she said, reaching out for my hand, "You'll never get past all of this if you don't. And don't deny it, I heard you scream from the nightmare." She cupped my hand in hers, and patted the top of it.

I stared at our hands for a moment, before sighing. "Oh alright Arora, I guess I'll try."

"Really?!" she exclaimed, her eyes shining.

"Yes, I guess I can try, but I'm not promising results. The last time I did that, I failed horribly on national television!"

"Oh! At least you're trying! I'm so happy!" she exclaimed before giving me the tightest hug of my life. She crushed my arms into my sides, and lifted me up slightly. I was caught off guard by this, I knew I hadn't had much to eat recently, but was it really that little?

Eventually, she set me back down and gave me a bit of space. I looked at her with a small smile, which fell when I noticed she was covering her face, tears in her eyes.

"Hey, there's no need to cry, c'mon," I said, nudging her, "I'm pretty sure me trying something new isn't that good."

She backed away laughing, while wiping her eyes. "Nah, it's just that you smell like month-old herring."

I stood there for a moment, before lifting my arm and sniffing myself, then immediately regretted it. That smell… oh lords. I scrunched my face in actual nasal pain, and cried out.

This elicited giggling from Arora, causing her to cover her mouth in a vain attempt to hide her laughter. "Firstly, you need a shower," she got out between giggles, "You're coming home with me."

I did a double-take. "Wait, what?" Did she just offer me to go home with her?

She turned around and started skipping out of the alley. "You're coming home with me, now come on before your stench kills everyone in a five-mile radius."

"But- but…" I stuttered, running to catch up with her.

"But what Logan?" she asked, turning around to face me.

"I'm a boy. Aren't you worried people will get the wrong idea?" I said.

She stopped suddenly, causing me to run into her, nearly causing me to trip. She turned around to face me, and just stared at me. She then burst out laughing, a deep genuine laugh. She held herself up by her knees, trying to keep her balance, with letting out harty chuckles. I think I even heard her snort once.

Eventually, she managed to calm down regaining her composure and wiping a tear from her eye. "You're pretty funny Logan. If I were concerned about that, I wouldn't have offered it to ya!" She turned around and started walking out of the alley again. "With that sorted, are you coming or not?"

I stood there for a moment, silently contemplating my choices. However, my mind was made up quickly when Arora turned around with the most villainous look I've seen on anyone ever.

"Coming!" I shouted to her, picking up my feet to catch up with her before I became calamari.

* * *

Well, this was a lot of fun to write actually. Probably because this is coming more from the heart than my other stories. One's a craicfic, the other is a stereotypical self-insert story. Granted, this story is also pretty stereotypical, but what matters is if I have fun right?

And before I get called out for it, I am aware the One of the Worst already did this idea. The thing is, I liked the idea of a hated inkling getting kidnapped by octolings so much I wanted to try this myself. After a point in that story, I just lost interest, so my intention is to do my own spin on that story, and change things to how I personally would have done it. Nothing against that author, it is an excellent story and if it weren't for it existing, I wouldn't have ever wanted to write this story.

Anyways, I'm gonna try to keep it interesting, but please note that some of the topics are coming from my own personal demons, so be prepared for some risky business friends.

~Chao!


	2. I:II - Awkward

"Wow, nice digs," I muttered to outloud as I entered Arora's apartment. The walls were painted a shade of bland white, as is standard with most economy apartments. However, the various paintings lining them were what really caused them to stand out. From flowers, to what looked to be portraits of people and things, the walls were well decorated with colorful pictures that livened the place up. There was even a painting of a baby zapfish.

"Thank you. it's not much, but I try," she said. She kicked off her shoes and put them against the wall near the door, then went into the apartment. I followed suit, as tracking my filth onto her light grey carpet seemed kind of rude. She threw her keys onto the counter separating the kitchen from the living room.

On the wall opposite to the, sat a widescreen television, above an entertainment center. Behind it's glass doors sat a games console with a couple of games and controllers and a cable television receiver. On the shelf below that sat books. Lots, and lots of books, with many colorful titles and covers. There were even a few that I recognized!

Between the cyan-and-green couch and television sat a simple wooden coffee table which was worn from use. On it sat a remote, a controller, and a small collection of books, one of which was open with a bookmark in it.

I was actually genuinely surprised by this. "I never took you for much of a reader. Any time we're together you're normally pretty excitable."

She smiled at me. "Yeah, it's always been something that fascinated me. Getting caught up in fantastical world and things of such." She pointed towards the entertainment center, "I also enjoy some games as well, but nowhere near as much as reading."

"Yeah, you've got a freaking library in here, girl!" I exclaimed, pointing towards the entertainment center.

She waved me off with a smile. "Oh that thing? That's nothing compared to what I have in my bedroom. I'll show it to you," she hesitated for a moment, " _after_ we get you cleaned."

"Oh yeah… that…" I was really not looking forward to that. But I needed it, so… "Where is your shower, anyways?"

"If you'd follow me please!" I nodded and followed her as she led me past a bedroom and to a bathroom that was at the end of the hall. She walked in and flicked the lights on. "The towels are up there," she said, pointing to a shelf that sat above the toilet, "and the soaps are in the shower. When you are done getting undressed, put your clothes in the hamper so I can wash them later."

I moved out of her way as she stepped back out of the bathroom and into the hall. I made a move to enter the bathroom, but hesitated. "Are you sure you're okay with me doing this? I mean you don't have to if you don-"

"It's fine Logan," she insisted, giving me stern look.

"But what about a change of clothes when I get out?" Afterall, what was I supposed to wear? I didn't have any clothes with me to change into.

"I've got something for you, don't worry about it," she waved me off, "just go enjoy your shower." She then promptly shoved me into the bathroom and closed the door. "Have fun!"

I listened to her footsteps go away from the door to the bathroom and sighed. _"It'll all be fine,"_ I thought, trying to comfort myself, _"Just showering in someone else's, let alone a girl's, bathroom is all. Nothing at all to worry about…"_ I gulped and got undressed, trying to not think about the situation. There's just that awkward thing about showering in someone else's shower that disturbed me slightly. I just didn't feel comfortable with it. Kind of like I was invading their space, or doing something taboo.

Shaking the thoughts away, I put my clothes in the wicker hamper as I was told and started the shower. The water came out of the shower head with a calming hiss, and poured onto the bottom of the tub with a quiet pattering. I adjusted the temperature to be more of my liking breathed to myself. " _At least I can finally be clean for the first time in months,"_ I thought with a smile as I stepped into the stream.

I stood there and bathed in the hot water that rained on me, my previous worries forgotten. I soaked in the heat of the water with glee, happy to finally be able to take a long, lovely shower after so long. I felt the water hit my shoulders and run down my back and front, taking dirt and sweat with it. The water dripping down my body hit the bottom the the tub with a comforting sound, helping add to the relaxing atmosphere created by the experience.

I sighed and closed my eyes, taking everything in. My mind was blank for the first time in a long time. I was enjoying myself. I felt as if I in a whole other plain of existence, where it was just me and peace. I felt myself smile in bliss for the first time in a long time.

I was suddenly yanked from my peace when a knocking came on the bathroom door. "Logan! Are you okay? You've been in there for twenty minutes!" came Arora. She must have been worried with me taking me so long. Heh, I guess getting lost in time and space kind of has that effect, huh?

I smiled to myself, happy that she was concerned for me. "I'm fine! I'm just enjoying the experience of hot water!" I yelled back over the water. I turned around and let the water run down my front.

"Okay Logan, just tell me when you're done! The soap is on the shelf in the tub." With that, I assume she left. I looked to my right and saw the bottle of soap she was talking about, and a loofah to go with it. I smile with enthusiasm. Time to get… _suddy…_

I laughed to myself and grabbed the bottle and loofah.

* * *

The shower turned off with a squeak and a pitter. I pulled the curtain open and stepped out of the shower, my feet making a squelch noise as I stepped onto the linoleum. I shivered slightly, now that I wasn't being soaked with near scalding hot water (I admit, it was maybe a bit _too_ warm), and reached for the towels. I grabbed one on the bottom of a stack of them, and tried to pull them out without causing them to fall down, but I wasn't careful enough. They came tumbling down to the wet floor, and absorbed some of the water that was dripping off of me. I frowned at them, annoyed at both myself and gravity. "Of course I dropped them," I muttered to myself. I picked them up off of the ground, set the wet ones in the hamper with the rest of the dirty laundry and dry myself off with the one I had grabbed previously.

After I dried myself off from tentacle to toe, I tied the towel around my waist and steeled my nerves. I may not be overweight or been overweight in the past, but I've always been self-conscious about myself. I rarely ever went out in anything less than a T-Shirt and some form of long pants, so wearing just a towel around my waist in a girl's house had me on edge.

I opened the door to the bathroom and peeked my head through the gap. Cool air rushed past me, causing me to shiver involuntarily. "Hey, Arora! I'm done!"

I heard a scream then a thump come from her room, followed by a groan. "I'm okay, just… er- give me a moment!" She yelled from her room. I stepped out of the bathroom proper, flicking the light off on the way out, and went to her room. The door was slightly cracked open, most likely it didn't latch correctly, allowing me to see flashes of her cyan tentacles through the crack. I decided I would be a polite guest and not peep on her, whatever it was that she was doing. So instead, waited patiently for her to finish whatever is was she was doing, trying not to think about how I'm just stood here in a towel…

I heard the rustling of fabric from within her room, then the closing of a drawer, followed by a sigh from the girl herself. "You can come in now," she said. I grimaced slightly and pushed the door open, revealing her and her room completely to me.

Her room was painted a shade of cyan blue (much like her tentacles) and was accented by various shades of orange. The middle of the left wall was occupied by a fairly comfy looking double bed that was in disarray, and which sat upon a fine oaken frame. Above that was a poster of the famous pop duo, The Squid Sisters, in their iconic pose. Adjacent to the bed sat a simple end table with a pink lamp on it. Next to the lamp sat a mostly empty glass of water, a cellphone, and a bottle of medication.

Across the room from the bed stood a wooden desk with an organized mess of things on it. From magazines, to books, trying to find something in that mess wasn't gonna be easy for her. Buried within everything sat a cyan laptop, which was opened to the desktop. The background was a picture of Arora and me, of all people, when we went out one time to the park. Apparently she did keep that selfie, huh. Behind the computer sat a simple black reading lamp, which was turned on and facing the wall, providing a subtle glow to the entire room.

Adjacent to the desk sat a bookcase with so many more books on it than I expected. I couldn't even have possibly dreamed of being able to read all of those books, but I could assume that Arora had read most, if not all of them. On the shelves in front of the books stood little figurines of famous character and people, from the Squid Sisters, to cartoon characters, and even on a figurine of me, which sat besides the Squid Sisters. I cringed slightly at seeing that but didn't pay it much mind. I was more pitying the girl in front of me for wasting the 60000p on something that essentially equated to garbage.

On the topic of her, she stood there and let me inspect her room without doing much. She was looking down at the floor, with her hands held in each other while shifting ever so slightly on her feet. She looked flushed and hot, with a bead of sweat rolling down her forehead. She changed out of her black bicycle shorts from earlier and into a mid-thigh length circle skirt.

"Hey, are you feeling okay?" I asked, my current dress forgotten for the time being, "You look kind of flushed."

Her head immediately shot up and she made eye contact with me. "I'M FINE!" she stated so loudly I cringed. "Err, I mean, I'm fine. I got you some clothes and I set them on the bed, if you wanna go look at them." She pointed to her left, and towards the bed, on it was a set of clothes I didn't notice earlier.

I walked over to the bed and checked out what she grabbed. It looked like she picked out a Basic Tee, socks, and… was that a skirt? "Umm, Arora… are these… your clothes?" I asked, I was slightly afraid of the response, but also slightly hopeful.

She came up to my left and looked at them with me. "Yeah, I figured we had a similar build, so you'd be able to fit in my stuff. Afterall, you're thinning and we're the same height."

I looked at her, surprised. "I can't wear your clothes, that wouldn't be decent of me!"

She gave me a flat look. "Logan, like I said earlier, if I were concerned about that I wouldn't have offered them to you," she deadpanned. I looked back down at the clothes, slightly worried. I've always been interested in trying on a skirt, but…

"I mean, is there anything else that you have for me to wear?" I was having mixed feeling about this entire thing and all that was necessary was a little push in either direction to get me to make up my mind.

"No, unless you want to wear the dirty rags you had on before your shower."

I took this into consideration in my own internal monologue. On one hand, I can try something I've always been interested in, on the other hand, anyone who recognizes me will have a blast snapping photos of the failure-turned-gay, and laughing while they did it. It was an internal dilemma. Society versus me, so to speak.

Apparently Arora could sense my discomfort, and spoke up. "It was the best thing I could find for you. I know you don't like being so revealing, but I don't have anything that would fit you modesty…" she commented, "If it'll help you decide, I think you'd look cute in a skirt…"

I pursed my lips and gave everything one final thought. I eventually came to a conclusion. "Alright, let me get changed." I thought I heard her gasp when I said that, but I may have been hearing things. She muttered a quick okay and bolted from the room, allowing me privacy.

I decided it would be in my best interest to put the clothes on quickly before I changed my mind. So I dropped my towel onto the ground then kicked it away, then changed into the clothes she provided for me (thank god she chose a pair of boyshorts and not something else). I slipped on the Basic Tee, and stepped into the skirt. Afterwards, I looked at myself in the mirror properly since after my shower.

I looked like a completely different person compared to how I was earlier. My face was dirt free allowing one to distinguish between my face and the dark markings around my eyes. My purple tentacles, which drooped around the sides of my face, reflected a beautiful iridescence which I didn't think I've noticed before (it was probably the soap), and had a solid, smooth gradient from root to tip. A more solid color at the top, to a more dark color at the tips.

My pointed ears twitched at a noise coming from outside the room, but I shrugged it off. Arora's yellow Basic Tee gave quite a bright contrast to my purple tentacles, which I could care less for, but I don't have any other options. However, it was a little tight, clinging to my body in certain places which made my malnutrition a bit more obvious, which also unintentionally made me look a bit more feminine. Looking down a bit further, my eyes came to the black skirt that I wore. It was a neutral color that brought no attention to it, thankfully. It went down to just above my knees, where it ended abruptly, with no added frills.

I smirked to myself and did a spin in the mirror, watching as the skirt wrapped around me after I finished. I giggled to myself, realizing the absurdity of the situation. _"What a weird day this is turning out to be,"_ I thought to myself. I went back to the bed and grabbed the socks from upon it, then slid them on. It felt really good to finally be putting on new socks after having those nasty, sweaty ones for so long!

"You can come in now!" I shouted to the door. Arora peeked her head in for a moment before gasping and pushing through the door completely. "Woah, that outfit goes really, _really_ well on you."

I tapped my foot against the floor bashfully and looked away. "Ah, thanks Arora. I've always wanted to try on a skirt."

She quirk her eyebrow. "Really? Well here we are!"

I chuckled awkwardly, as stood there. "Now what..?"

Arora stared at me for a moment before snapping too. She grabbed my hand and started pulling me out of her room. "OOH! I'm glad you asked. Ya see, I wanted to go out with you to go do somethings like Turf War or even eat out or whatever but no one would have let you anywhere smelling like a dumpster, so I-"

I interrupted her mid-speech and pulled my hand out of hers. "Wait, you said you wanted to go do _Turf Wars_!?" I stated incredulously, "I can't go do Turf Wars, I'll be a laughing stock! I'll just screw up and embarrass you, or even get you hurt, or-"

However, she shushed me before I could go on for too long and smiled at me. "Logan… it's fine. We just won't go turfing if you don't want to. I just wanted for you to get out and do something that isn't rummaging or hiding. How's that sound?"

I sighed and slouched a bit. "Yeah… sorry… It's still a sore spot with me… Yes, I'd love to go out," I said, putting a hand on her shoulder. Then I added, "Not like you're giving me much of a choice."

She squee'd loudly, and hopped up and down clamping onto my hands. She tugged on me, pulling me towards the door and causing me to nearly lose my balance. I smiled at her infective excitement, and let her pull me around. I noticed that my shoes where no longer by the door, but instead there sat a new pair of Creme Basics, pristine and clean. I was stunned. However, I didn't have much time to stand around, as Arora was all but yelling in my ear to get a move on.

So I slipped the shoes on and rushed with her out the door, and into the wilderness of Inkopolis, ready for a great day with my greatest friend.

* * *

Chapter 2 is done, can't believe I actually did it. And for those of you who found this awkward, look at the chapter title. Yeah. Anyways, I didn't feel like pacing it so those weren't included. Though now that everything is done and dusted here, we can finally move onto the story proper. I can't wait! It's gonna be so much fun. But first, I need to continue with the Undertale story.

On the topic of Undertale, I played through DeltaRune just earlier and oh boi! Was that fun. I can't wait for the next Chapter/ Full Release. Also,

screw that damn Jester...

~CHAOS, CHAOS!


	3. I:III - Out On the Town

For the first time in a long time, I actually felt confident in being out in public. I was walking down the street, the sun beaming down upon my smiling face. My purple tentacles were shining brilliantly in the late afternoon sun, the light reflecting off of the healthy, shiny surface. I felt fresh and refreshed.

Skipping next to me on the side-walk was Arora, who was wearing a wide, brimming smile herself. She had told me earlier that, "First and foremost, we're going to get something to eat!" I was excited for an opportunity to eat something that wasn't half-rotten, so I jumped at it. The place she chose was a bit more public than I would have liked, but food is food.

"I can't wait to get something to eat with you," she cheered, "this is my favorite place in all of Inkopolis!"

I smiled at her enthusiasm. "Same, I've been wanting to get something fresh to eat for forever. Where are we going again?"

She skipped in front of me and turned around, always keeping that beaming smile. "It's this really good place in the Plaza. I think you'll enjoy it."

As she said that, we rounded a corner, the Plaza becoming fully visible to us. It was bustling, filled with squids of every shape, size and color. Pink, blue, red, short, tall. It seemed like nearly every squid teen in the city filled this central hub. On the far side of the Plaza, stood piercing the heavens was the Battle Tower. This building served as a hub and lobby for both casual and competitive Turf Wars, along with a broadcast tower and (normally) a power plant. However, the Great Zapfish was currently missing, so it was not coiled around it's usual place on the tower. Flanking the tower on either was a two-story building and the entrance to a mall.

"Oh wow… that's a lot of people..." I said, flabbergasted. I hadn't been to the plaza in over a year, and I forgot just how busy it gets at mid-day, especially during summer. "Hey, Arora, can we go around the edge of the crowd?"

Arora, who had stopped skipping when we entered the plaza proper, looked at me. "Are you afraid of it?"

I rubbed the back of my head, and scanned the group. Quite a few of the squids there looked ready to start turfing. "Well… not quite that but..." I gestured down towards what I was wearing, eliciting a silent "ooh" from the girl.

"Okay. We'll shuffle around the group. The cafe I found is somewhat closer to the Squid Sisters' studio anyways," she said. I breathed a sigh of relief. I may have wanted to explore some new fashion, but I was nowhere near ready to just walk into a group wearing a skirt. So we walked around the edge of the plaza and down an alley.

Before I knew it, we were approaching a quaint little cafe on a side street a ways away from the Plaza. As we walked in, I was hit with the calming aroma of many different blends of tea and coffee, along with the sweet smell of pastries and the salty smell of various other odds and ends. Arora led us to an amber orange table, where we seated ourselves at comfy, yet firm chairs.

I took a look around the place, admiring the warm and inviting décor. The cafe had a large bay window looking out onto the street, allowing a large amount of natural sunlight to come in, illuminating the auburn walls, making it seem like it was constantly sunset. Many forms of art decorated the walls, from flowers and fruit, to people and places. A few potted plants scattered along the walls and tables added an extra splash of color, from red roses, to green bonzai. The entire place was nailing the "au natural" sunset looks to a T.

She gave me a warm smile, starting up conversation. "So, judging from the look on your face when you first walked in, you like this place?"

I turned my attention back to my friend. "Oh, yeah. This place is very relaxing," I gestured to the décor, "definitely helps if you've had an awkward and active morning."

She giggled slightly at my joke. "And the "relaxing" thirty minute shower wasn't?" she came back.

I rolled my eyes. "Hey now, anything that isn't a fountain is "relaxing", especially at midnight," I smirked, "though I try to keep my messes to the shower."

She did a double-take and blushed slightly. Wha- what do you mean by that?"

"Oh nothing…" I said, waving the girl off, "I just prefer to have all my troubles, "wash down the drain"." That caused her to turn so red, even her tentacles started changing colors. She started sputtering out nonsense, causing me to laugh.

In the middle of Arora's meltdown, and my laughing fit at said meltdown, a waitress in her early-twenties approached our table with a smile, holding two menus. She wore her brown tentacles up in a loose bun atop her head, along with a fire red polo and black khakis. "Hi Arora! Welcome back!" she cheerfully greeted.

Arora snapped to look at the women, then turned an even darker shade of red. "Oh my gosh… how much of that did you hear, Connie?"

Connie giggled, setting our menus down in front of us. "Enough to know that you know how to choose them." she teased further. Arora could only groan again, face planting on the table.

Connie then turned to me with a smile. "Actually, you wouldn't happen to be Logan, would you?"

I cringed. "Uhh… Yeah?" I said with uncertainty. Oh boy, here we go.

Connie's eyes sparkled, literally. "Oh I can't believe I'm finally getting a chance to meet you!" Wait, what? "Arora has talked about how nice you are, how you do so much for her, and how you're always there."

I turned to Arora to see that she has her head down still, though it looks like her blush was starting to retreat. "Uhh… thanks. I try my hardest, after all, she is the my best, and well, only friend." I said. I turned to look back at Connie, who seemed to be scrutinizing me now. Weird.

"Uhuh… So what brings you two here today, since Arora is still..."

"Oh well, we're here to eat of course, but I haven't the foggiest clue of what to get."

Connie leaned in. "I think you should get-" she was then cut off by Arora, who suddenly picked her head up off of the table.

"- the Shell's Special with Extra Sauce, no onion!" She exclaimed, catching both me and Connie off-guard. Connie shot her a questioning glance, but jotted it down anyways.

She pointed the end of her pen to Arora. "Alright… What about you?"

"The same, that'll be all!" Connie left, furrowing her brow. Arora sighed, resting her head in her hands.

A thick, awkward silence settled on to the table. I looked around, trying to find something to break it, finding only the flowers as a distraction. The orange roses were beautiful, perfectly encompassing the sunset theme.

"Hmmph hmph hum heem?" came Arora from behind her hands.

I leaned in. "I'm sorry, what?"

She lifted her head up and folded her arms on the table, leaning on it. "I said "How have you been?""

I blinked, caught a little off-guard by the question. "Uhh… pretty good actually, considering I don't feel like dirt

"What do you mean by that?"

I pinched the bridge of my nose and sighed. "I hadn't gotten a shower for a long time before earlier, I felt like the dirty bum I am.

Arora cringed at my comment. "Oh… sorry about that."

I waved her off, shaking my head. "Ahh you're fine, you can't control my circumstances."

She pushed the flowers out of the middle of the table so she could see me better. "Yes I can," she states with a frown, "I could have helped you, given you a place to live!"

I smile fondly at her. "Maybe you could have. Either way, what happened, happened." I pulled a flower from the vase. "Ya can't do much about it now."

She looked at me compassionately, her eyes so filled with care for me. "And that's gonna change now!" She reach across the table and grabbed my hand, holding it in hers. "I'll help you, get you back on your feet, and give you a place to live."

I smiled genuinely, feeling a warmth spread through my body, from head to toe. A tingling that cleared my mind and made me feel 80 pounds lighter. Could this have been… happiness?

Before I could go further into my thoughts, Connie came back with our food and set the dishes in front of us. I looked down and saw a giant burger with a form of sauce dripping out the sesame seed bun. Crisp, green lettuce poked from beneath the burger, with a couple of ripe tomato slices sandwiched between it and the meat. On the plate next to it was a large serving of fried shrimp and tarter sauce. My mouth was watering at all this warm, fresh food.

"Well, don't just look at it," came Connie, breaking me from my train of thought. I shook my head of the distractions, and reached out tentatively, as if this beautiful meal would disappear should I touch it. I closed my hands around the burger and picked it up. I brought it up to my mouth, licking my lips in anticipation. Then, with the speed of a shark, I chomped down on the burger, tearing a huge gash out of it. I chewed ferociously, pulverizing and swallowing it before taking another, just as large, bite. Before I knew it, the entire thing was gone, with the only evidence that it even existed in the first place being the food on my face.

Connie and Arora stared at me, awe struck with how quickly I consumed the burger. Arora had barely bitten in to hers, while Connie had barely stepped away from the table, avoiding the radius of destruction and splatter of sauce and other foods. Arora was the first to speak up. "Uhh… wow you were..."

"Ravenous," Connie finished. I was pulled out of my stupor by Arora, who threw a shrimp at me, hitting me right in the face.

"Hey!" I cried, "what was that for?"

"You looked spaced out, so I got your attention." She then plopped a shrimp in her mouth.

I picked the offending shrimp up from my plate, and bit a piece of it off. My taste buds were hit by a sudden tidal wave of buttery garlic flavor, with a hint of salt. "Wow, no wonder you said this was your favourite place, this stuff is amazing!" I grabbed another shrimp and dipped it in tartar sauce, before eating it.

Arora finished chewing another bite before responding. "Thanks, but it was Connie here who recommended this place."

Connie, for her part, blushed slightly. "Oh, if it weren't for you, I wouldn't even have the job." She then turned her attention to me, "She spoke pretty highly of me to the owner when she heard I was going for this job, before I knew it, I had an interview all lined up."

"Wow, that's impressive," I commented, before munching on a few more shrimp.

She shifted on her feet a bit. "I guess I should probably get back to work," She said, moving towards the kitchen, "It was nice catching up with you, Arora. Oh, and nice meeting you Logan." Then she was gone with a wink.

I watched her disappear into the kitchen, then looked over to Arora. "She seems friendly enough," I observed. I devoured my last shrimp.

"Yeah, she's pretty good, I've known her for a little while now," she started, turning back to me, "We met during a turf war and we became fast friends. She's helped me a lot, and I've helped her just as much." She stared into space, lost in thought. However, she was interrupted before too long by another waitress dropping off the bill and taking out plates.

"I guess that's our cue to get a move on, eh?" I said, standing up. "Sorry I can't help with the bill."

Arora shook her head. "It's fine, this is my treat, after all." She pulled out a couple of large coins from a pocket and set them on the table. "C'mon, we still have to go shopping."

I chuckled to myself and followed Arora out of the small cafe and into the late afternoon sun. During the time we spent eating, the plaza had cleared out somewhat due to the blistering heat and bright sun. The Squid Sisters were out the front of their studio, soaking up the rays and signing photographs. Guess the heat paired with it being peak turf-time made it easier to be out without being hoarded by both Paparazzi and fans. Granted, that didn't stop _everyone_ but it was manageable. Oddly though, Marie seemed to be looking across the small group of inklings in front of them towards our direction.

"Hey Arora," I started, "is it me or is Marie watching us?"

Arora perked up and looked over to where the Squid Sisters were. "Hmm, maybe. I doubt it though." She turned back to me, "why do you ask?"

I cross my eyes and look up. "Ah, just me being paranoid. Something I picked up after being on the streets for so long, ya know?" I looked back over towards the Squid Sisters, and notice that Marie's attention is back on the crowd in front of her. I think I'm losing it…

Arora pulled me into her and patted my back. "It's okay, you shouldn't have to worry about that anymore. I'm here for you and I will help you out anyway I can."

I smile and roll my eyes. "Yeah, I know." I pull away from her. "Let's just get to the mall."

Her eyes lit up. "Oh yeah!" She grabbed my wrist tightly. "Let's go! I wanna get you into some dresses and see how cute you'd look."

"I didn't agree to this!" I yelled as I was pulled along behind the excited girl.

-==+Some Hours Later+==-

"I feel violated" I whined while on my way out from one of Inkopolis' many malls. The sun had begun its retreat below the horizon awhile ago, causing the shadows to stretch and the air to chill to a crisp. The sweet smell of a summer's evening permeated the city, helping ease the city slowly into the respite of night.

"Oh, you'll be fine," Arora responded, walking out behind me with a couple bags in her hands, "You only tried on a few things."

I turned back to her with a small scowl. "Yeah, but did you have to choose the revealing dresses?"

She smirked. "I thought they would have looked cute on you, and I wasn't wrong..." she stepped around me, taking the lead on our journey back home.

I huffed, relenting to her. "At least I got some new clothes out of it." I followed her as we went down the street, taking many twists and turns, with only a bit of orange sunlight to guide us home.

"See! Now you're thinking-" she started, only to be interrupted by her cell going off in her pocket. She pursed her lips, indicated to me to wait a moment while she pulled out the phone and put it up to her ear.

"Hello?" she started. I faintly heard the caller through the receiver, though I couldn't make out what was being said. Whatever it was, it was causing Arora to bite her cheek. Eventually, the caller relented. "Okay, I'll be right over, just let me finish this first." With that, she hung up.

"What was that about?" I asked while she put her phone back into her pocket.

She sighed and shook her head. "Just some friends needing some help with something." She looked at me for a moment, almost like she was analyzing me, before shaking her head. "Do you know the rest of the way back to my apartment?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Yeah. Just down the street, apartment 12B, right?"

She nodded in response. "Yeap." She gave me the few bags she was carrying, and a key. "Make yourself at home, but don't go through my stuff." With that, she departed quickly, disappearing behind another corner.

I looked at the key in my hand and sighed. "I guess I'll see ya later..." I put the key into one of the bags and continued down the side of the street. I double timed it, considering it was getting late. I didn't want to spend anymore time out, wanting to get home and fall asleep after such a long day. Arora had worn me out with everything that happened, and nothing sounded better than sleeping somewhere that wasn't the cold, hard ground with nothing but a newspaper for a pillow.

I was interrupted from my thoughts by a yell and a trashcan falling to the ground, causing a loud crash. I searched around me, looking around for where the noise came from when a shout attracted my attention to an alleyway a short way down the street. I approached the alleyway cautiously, setting the bags down near the entrance of it, not needing them for this. a muffled scream followed by another crash prompted my to pick up my pace. Whatever is happening, It obviously wasn't good, and someone obviously needed some help. As I came around the side of a dumpster, I saw a traumatizing sight.

There, in the middle of the alleyway was a dirty, shaggy man wrestling with a young girl, trying to force her to the ground. He had her hands pinned behind her back, while he covered her mouth. The girl was panicking, struggling viciously to try to escape the man's hold. Neither of them had seen me from where I was crouched. I had to act quickly, before this escalated too far.

On impulse, I grabbed a glass bottle that laid empty on the ground, and approached the pair. He kicked the back of the girl's knee, causing her to lose her footing and tumble. She was exposed, pinned to the ground by the man who was breathing heavily. I sneaked upon him while he was distracted, and brought the empty bottle upon his skull, causing to smash on impact and spraying glass everywhere.

He fell off of the girl, and looked up at me. I was breathing deeply with the broken bottle in my hands. The man quickly put two-and-two together and rushed me suddenly, catching me off guard.

I dodged out of the way of the haphazard attack, causing him to barrel headfirst into the trashcans, causing a lot of commotion. He recovered quickly, standing up and entering a fighting stance. "Thought you could save your friend there, missy?" he started, reaching into his back pocket. "I guess that'll be the worst mistake of your short life..."

He pulled a thing out of his pocket with a flick. I readied my broken bottle and gulped; didn't anticipate a knife fight, now did I? He took a quick step towards me, making a slash with his blade. I dodged out of the way and made a jab with my improv'd shank, going wide. The man took advantage of that, and slashed at my outstretched arm, causing a searing pain to shoot up the limb and me to exclaim in surprise and pain.

I backed away, holding my arm close to me, trying to stem the flow of purple and red. It was obvious to me now that this man was an experienced fighter, while I was not. I looked for any way to end this fight as fast as possible before I bled out or got stabbed to death, whichever came first.

The man approached me again, lunging forward at me. This time, I stepped out of the path of the blade as it skimmed past me, nicking my side. I gripped the neck of broken bottle tightly, and brought it down. The bottle met flesh, puncturing into the man's thigh, eliciting a yell from him. I backed away from him quickly, hoping to put some distance from where he collapsed.

He stood up from the strike, favoring his uninjured leg. He glared me down, looking me dead in the eyes. It was a tense moment, with neither of us moving. He broke the stare down with the shake of his head. He fled from the battle quickly, most likely realizing it just wasn't worth it.

I dropped what was left of the broken bottle, shattering what was left of it on the cold, unforgiving concrete. I gazed around the alley, my eyes eventually landing on the girl whom I just saved. She was sat against the wall with a thousand-yard stare. She seemed to be processing what had happened, or at least I thought she was. I approached her, and sat down in front of her, causing her focus to land on me. It was then I noticed that she was not an inkling, but instead an Octarian; an Octoling to be specific.

She brought her legs in closer to her, hiding herself from me. I gave her a soft smile and looked into her eyes, trying to convey that I wasn't going to hurt her. "Hey, are you okay? You had quite the scare back there."

She said nothing, instead choosing to let her gaze drift over to my arm, that was starting to bleed quite profusely. I followed her gaze to the wound. "That? Yeah… he was a lot better than I thought he was." She reached for my arm tentatively, and I let her. I extended my arm, though not without a bit of pain. She traced her finger around the slash, causing a sharp tingling from the area.

I chuckled, which brought her attention to me. "Yeah, I think it may be a bit deep." I brought my other arm around, and gave it a poke. I hissed, which caused her to retract her hand. I could feel myself starting to sway, as the world started to blur together, with the young Octoling as the focus. "Ya know, I think I may be bleeding out… neat."

I fell backwards with a thud, and in the last visages of light, I saw the girl trying to rouse me, saying something I couldn't quite hear.

* * *

I'm not gonna lie, most of my inactive time was spent just spacing out or just not doing anything. I did not do much on this story until just recently, where I typed up the second half of this chapter on a whim. I've been feeling awful, but more of a "Dead Inside" awful compared to a "I want to die" awful. I would have completed this quicker if it weren't for that, but depression is a bitch. I would like to continue typing, but all of my hobbies feel like chores. Even my strongest passions I just don't feel like doing.

Oh right, the End of Chapter note. I'm not very happen with the final result of this chapter, with my primary gripes being with pacing, dialog, and transitions. I could have done a lot of this better, but I didn't. I don't enjoy putting out weak works, but this is the best I feel I can do. It probably doesn't help that I've been out of practice due to not writing much recently.

Sorry for talking your eyes off, but I just wanted to say that. See you guys in the next one.

Chao


	4. I:IV - BEEP

**Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep.**

'What in the wide oceans is that awful beeping noise?' I thought to myself. It kept going on, and on, and on, and it was starting to drive me mad! It definitely wasn't helping my screaming headache either. Not only that, but this bed was awfully stiff and unforgiving. Wait, stiff bed? Beeping?

I managed to force my eye lids open just far enough to regret doing so immediately afterwards. The bright, incandescent lighting blinded me, and caused my screaming headache to evolve in a skull splitting one. I forced my eyelids closed without a second thought, before attempting to block the light with my hand. However, the best I managed was slapping myself in the face.

"Wha-huh?" came the voice of another person who was in the room with me. Apparently my arm slapping my face was enough to wake whoever it was up. I managed to finally tear my dreary lids open enough to get a good look around the room I was in. White, sterile floors, tasteless beige walls, stale paintings of flowers.

Yep, landed myself in a hospital.

I looked over to the chairs against one of the walls of the room, and found Arora, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. She was wearing an over-sized t-shirt, a pair of sports shorts, and some sandals, seemingly pulled straight out of bed, if her clothes were anything to go by. She let off a large yawn, stretching out and smacking her lips together, before looking over towards me. She stopped mid-stretch, and stared at me with wide eyes.

"LOGAN!" She yelled, immediately jumping out of her chair and glomping straight on me, hugging me tight.

"Hey Arora, how's it going?" I asked, attempting to return the hug. All I accomplished was throwing my arm onto her back. Good Enough.

She looked up at me with shining eyes, wet with freshly developed tears. "Oh I thought I lost you Logan, oh cod I almost lost you! HOW COULD YOU DO THAT!?" With that she hugged me tighter to her, letting the tears fall freely.

"Ow..." I moaned. Arora's yelling was like an atomic bomb to my head, causing me the see colors. "Could you keep it down, I've got a headache worse than a jackhammer going at my skull. What even happened?"

Arora gasped. "What do you mean, what happened!?" She sat up, kneeling near the edge of the bed with tears rolling down her face. "How could you not remember nearly bleeding out in an alley?"

I blinked. "What. I was bleeding out in an alley? What?" I cocked an eyebrow at the girl, who simply stared at me like I had grown a second head.

"They found you, Logan..." she choked on a sob, having difficulties in getting what she wanted to say out, "they found you in a puddle of blood in the alley near my apartment, sliced and scratched." Arora looked away from me, "they called me once they got you here, I thought..."

I forced myself up from the bed, and threw my arms around Arora, hugging her as tightly as I could. "Ssshh, it's okay, I'm fine now." Arora pushed herself away from me, a look of shock and hurt gracing her appearance.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT'S FINE!?" She exploded, causing my ears to ring, "You tried to kill yourself in an alley, and you say it's fine!?" The dam had broken, and tears waterfalled from her eyes. She moved towards the end of the bed, putting distance between me and herself.

The gravity of what she just said hit me like a ton of bricks, causing my mind to go blank. I fell back into the bed, stunned. She thought I attempted suicide. I knew I had issues in the past, but I didn't think… did it really seem like I wanted to actually...

"Logan… why..." Arora asked quietly, bringing me back to reality. She kneeled at the end of the bed, holding one of her cerulean tentacles close to her for comfort. She looked lost, hurt, and so, so betrayed. It hurt me to see her like this.

I forced myself to sit up once again, and shuffle my way over to the girl. I reached out to her, laying my hand on top of hers. She observed my hand, before meeting my eyes. "Arora… I…" I stuttered, "I promise to you, from deep within my heart and soul, I did not try to hurt myself tonight." I scanned her face, looking for any indication that she was gonna yell again. Seeing none, I continued. "I got into a fight with another person… I heard a girl scream, and when I went to investigate, he was trying to..." I grimaced, and looked away from Arora.

Arora was quiet, her eyes still locked on our hands. It was still, neither of us said anything or did anything to disturb the uneasy silence. I heard the blood pumping in my ears, my anxiety skyrocketed as I waited for her response. I worried that maybe she didn't believe me, maybe she thought I was lying.

My thoughts were broken by Arora moving her hand away from mine. I felt my heart plummet as she moved it away, I just lost my best and only friend… Then I was suddenly tackled by her, pushed back into the bed with the girl locking me into a deep embrace. "Thank goodness. I thought you were trying to… to…" she sputtered, "never mind that, I'm happy that you're fine. It was courageous of you to help whoever that was."

I chuckled and returned the hug, happy that Arora was relieved. I don't know how long we were there hugging, but it was nice. I was content, and I felt safe. I relaxed into the lumpy hospital bed with my arms still around the girl, and I let my eyes drift closed with a smile on my face.

Soon, the next morning came around and I felt myself being aroused from my slumber by the sun's piercing rays. I yawned, and rubbed the sleep out of my crusty eyes. It was then that I noticed that the fact that I was no longer pinned to the bed by Arora. I sat up, feeling infinitely better than I did last night, and looked around the room, trying to find the girl. However, she was nowhere to be seen. I supposed that she must have went home earlier, before I was even the slightest bit conscious. I couldn't blame her, even though it wasn't cold concrete, the bed was still incredibly uncomfortable.

I felt the blanket shift on my body, and a sharp tingle went up my arm. I hissed at it, and looked at what could have caused it. There I saw my arm was bandaged, most assuredly where I was cut by that man's blade. I looked down at my blue gowned body and wondered what the damage on the other injury was.

Before I had a chance to check, the door to my hospital room was opened, and a nurse walked in pushing a trolley with various gizmos.

The white tentacled nurse turned around, and let out a little squeak. "I didn't expect you to be up so soon," she stated, pushing the trolley towards my bed side, "They said it would have been something closer to a week before you were conscious again."

Her statement caused me to lift an eyebrow, "What do you mean by 'conscious again?' It's only been a couple of hours, right?"

She grabbed a blood/ink pressure meter, heart rate monitors, and a thermometer from her cart and turned towards me. "Oh heavens no, you've been out for about five days."

"Five days!?" my eyes bugged, "but I talked to Arora just last night."

The nurse responded. "Arora? Is she that blue tentacled girl?" She asked, wrapping the pressure meter around my arm, clamping the rate monitors on my fingers and putting the thermometer into my mouth.

I hum and nod my head. She smiled at me as she took the readings. "She's been coming in to visit you everyday since you were brought in."

She finished her readings, pulling the thermometer from my mouth. "Has she really?" I asked.

She unwrapped the pressure meter from my arm and released the clamps from my fingers. "Mmhm, she always comes in at the start of visiting hours with a book, and leaving when they end."

I looked around, trying to find a clock in the room. "When are visiting hours, normally?"

The nurse started packing her equipment up, and reached for her clipboard. "Visiting hours are typically from 15 to 21, weekdays." She said, penning some information down on her clipboard, "it is currently 14:56."

"So Arora should be up soon?" I asked hopefully. The nurse looked up from her clipboard.

"I wouldn't know, sorry..." She finished writing on her clipboard, and set it on her cart. "I will let the nurses station know that you are expecting her though." With that, she pushed equipment out.

"Thank you." I called after her, I then leaned back into the bed. 'So, Arora has been visiting me, huh? She must really care.' In the relative silence, I laid in bed, thinking to myself. I let my thoughts wonder from topic to topic; from Arora, to the fight that happened earlier that week. That girl was an interesting person. I couldn't quite remember everything about her, but I felt there was something about her that just didn't fit.

I have no idea how long my thoughts were wandering for when I heard the knock come from my door. "You can come in," I yelled towards the door, wincing slightly from the exertion on my side. The door slowly swung open, revealing Arora to be on the other side. She gazed around the room until her eyes came to rest upon me. She smiled wide and ran to my bedside.

"Oh my goodness, you're actually awake!" she beamed, grabbing my hand and pulling me up, "when I got the message from the hospital, I came over here as soon as I could!" She gripped my hand tightly as she rambled on, jumping from topic to topic. The girl wore a eye-blindingly bright yellow jacket today, making her quite possibly the brightest thing in the room.

However, my attention was soon drawn from her and to the two figures- girls, I thought- who hovered just outside my chamber door, peering in at Arora and I. The two seemed to be contrasting compliments of each other: while one wore a pink hoodie and beanie with black shorts, the other sported a lime green jacket and cap, with dark leggings. While one had long black tentacles and dark tinted shades, the other had grey-white tentacles and a face-mask.

Arora must have noticed I was distracted as she soon quieted down and looked towards where my gaze lingered, landing squarely upon the two at the door. When they noticed they were the focus of our attention, they shifted uneasily and looked between each other. I was the first to break the silence. "So… who're they?" I asked, pointing towards the two girls.

"Oh uh… they are my friends uhh-" she started, but was shortly interrupted by the pink one.

"I'm Cal- err, Caylee!" she exclaimed with a nervous grin. "And this is-"

The green one interrupts this time. "Marcine," she introduces, "would you happen to be Logan?"

I shifted in my bed, pulling the covers up. "Uhh, why do you ask?"

She moved into the room and stood by Arora. "Our friend here has spoken about a Logan before. I was curious if he and you were... one in the same."

She is soon accompanied by Caylee, who threw her arm around Arora. "Yeah, she goes on about you all the time." She pouted and balled her hands together, like she was begging. "Does she ever talk about us to you?"

I dart my eyes across all three girls. Arora, who was stuck between them, looked both sheepish and embarrassed. "I don't recall her saying any-" I'm cut off by Caylee.

"Really, Arora?" she whined, breaking contact with her. "I thought we were friends."

"I- uh… err," Arora stumbled across her words, "It never came up." She stepped back, and bumped into Marcine, who deadpanned.

"Ca-Caylee, you couldn't just expect her to mention us," she stated, backing away from Arora, "afterall, we have only met recently."

Caylee crossed her arms. "Oh fine, but I expect her to tell you," she pointed towards me, "all about us later." Arora seemed ready to interject, but instead backed down.

Noticing this, I took initiative to start the conversation proper. "What brings you two in with Arora to visit me today, anyways?" Simple enough…

The three of them glanced at each other, trying to prompt the others to start. Eventually, Marcine started. "We were interested in hearing about how you ended up in the hospital," she approached tentatively, "Arora informed us before hand, but we'd like to hear your account of the event.

I leaned back and rested against the head board. "… I'd rather not think about it honestly, why do you ask?"

Marcine shifted on the balls of her feet. "I can understand that," she comforted, "but I want you to share so we can help you, and the girl that you mentioned to Arora."

I sat silent for a moment, contemplating if I should share what happened. "I suppose. I'm thinking about it now, and Arora already told you, so I might as well fill in the details." And so, I recounted my story to the three girls, starting from when Arora and I left the mall. For their part, the girls were mostly quiet, listening with rapt attention. Arora winced when I recalled my knife fight in the alley way to protect a girl, but other than that, they were quiet.

After I finished my short tale, the room was quiet, the air heavy with anxiety. "Do you remember anything about the girl?" Caylee asked hesitantly, breaking the weighty silence. I attempted to drum up anything about her, but nothing came to mind.

Eventually, I just shrugged and shook my head. "I've got nothing, sorry..." I hang my head, down-trodden.

Caylee frowned and approached me. "Hey, it's okay. It was stressful and you were worried," she comforted. She reached over and hugged. She caught me off-guard with the unexpected act of affection, leaving me surprised. I look to the other two girls: Marcine raised an eye-brow, while Arora was straight-faced. I decided to return the hug, and we stayed for a few moments before Caylee pulled away.

Marcine shook her head. "Right… If that's all you have, Caylee and I need to be going," she stated, walking by and grabbing her friend by the wrist, "we have something we can't be late for." With that, the two left, but not before Caylee shouted a quick "Bye!" to me.

"Well, they're certainly interesting," I commented to no one in particular. I looked to Arora, who was stood still and staring into space. "Hey… are you okay?" I asked her, snapping her out of it.

"Uhh, ye-yeah… I've gotta go too," she said, heading towards the door, "I'll be by tomorrow."

"Bye..." I muttered out as she disappeared across the threshold. "What a peculiar encounter..."

* * *

Honestly, I should have uploaded this sooner, but I often times have trouble focusing or even getting around to working on things such as this, especially when anxiety comes into play. Other times, I just lose my self, letting youtube play while I half-focus on it. If only I knew the secret to getting work done even though I lack the motivation/lazy.

Other than that, this is one of the shorter chapters I've wrote for this story. Filler... I'm still trying to work out how to make the character and plot interesting, so give me time. Then again, this is fanfiction, the place people come to practice writing, while sharing their ideas.

Ah whatever...

~SquidKid


End file.
